'We are on target for the Stayers' at the moment' - Flooring Porter on schedule ahead of hat-trick bid

Flooring Porter is on track for an attempt at a third successive Stayers' Hurdle in three weeks' time after pleasing Gavin Cromwell's team in a piece of work on Monday.

The eight-year-old was a dominant winner of the race the last two years, particularly last season when he was given one of the rides of the meeting by Danny Mullins, and he is a best-priced 7-1 to repeat the feat for the third time.

The son of Yeats was reported to have suffered a setback last month, and Cromwell stated he was 50-50 to line up at the festival. The Meath-based trainer said that the next three weeks would tell a lot about whether his participation was likely and it seems things have gone smoothly in the interim.

Cromwell said: "We are delighted with Flooring Porter. He worked on Monday and he went well so we are happy with that.

"He has seemed to come out of it well too so we are on target for the Stayers' at the moment."

Gavin Cromwell: "We are delighted with Flooring Porter"Credit: Patrick McCann

Flooring Porter was last seen finishing fourth at Leopardstown over Christmas in the Grade 1 Jack De Bromhead Christmas Hurdle, finishing four lengths behind winner Home By The Lee. All being well, he will renew rivalry with Joseph O'Brien's horse at Cheltenham and will harbour hopes of reversing the form given he finished behind Klassical Dream in the same race last season before turning that form around at Prestbury Park.

The Stayers' has undergone a massive shake-up in recent weeks and Cromwell's charge has some new challengers to fend off after some fascinating contenders emerged in the form of Blazing Khal and Teahupoo. The former heads the market after winning the Boyne Hurdle at Navan in commanding fashion after being off 14 months, while the latter tackled three miles for the first at Gowran last month and came out an impressive winner of the Galmoy Hurdle, coasting home by 15 lengths.

Blazing Khal leads a strong Irish challenge in the feature race on the Thursday and is the general 5-2 favourite for trainer Charles Byrnes who won the race with Solwhit in 2013. Teahupoo is next in the market at 7-2 for Gordon Elliott, while Home By The Lee is priced up at 6-1.

Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle (3.30, March 16)

Paddy Power: 9-4 Blazing Khal, 7-2 Teahupoo, 9-2 Marie's Rock, 6 Home By The Lee, Flooring Porter, 8 Klassical Dream, Sir Gerhard 10 Gold Tweet, 14 Ashdale Bob, Buzz, Paisley Park, 16 bar

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